Persona: Lucidity
by Hyperresonance
Summary: An original story that uses the Persona series more for inspiration than a base. Follow the story of Hajime Sakamoto as he enters a second world--a dream world in which he will soon discover is not what it seems to be. Not as cheesy as the summary.
1. Prologue 092509

**Author's Notes**

Persona: Lucidity is based off of the Persona games more conceptually than directly—while the concepts of Persona still exist, and the social links from 3 & 4 exist, I would say that the rest is not at all similar.

While in Persona 3, for example, Tartarus was its own area, and could considered to be simply a dungeon, I would like to believe that the dream world here is considered more as its own world. Additionally, I've tried to avoid using shadows as common-place enemies (which I always found silly, between glove demons and table demons), leaving the dream world more akin to something from _Dungeons & Dragons_ than anything.

The chapter length of Lucidity is notably shorter than most other fictions here--a good or a bad thing, depending on how you take it.

Past that note, I would like to note that while the story is set in Japan, I do not have extensive experience with the country. If you find any glaring errors, then please do tell me about it, via message or some other mode of communication.

Beyond that, however, after getting past the initial changes, I would hope that you enjoy the story.

**--------------------------**

**Prologue**

**A Walk At Night**

A waning half moon hung in the dark sky. I was walking at a leisurely pace, reading a few papers regarding accommodations, directions to school, and et cetera.

It's probably best to introduce myself now. I'm Sakamoto Hajime, I'm 16, and I've transferred recently to North Hirokawa High. It was late at night—or so I thought, when I was walking to my new dormitory. For the most part, it was uneventful, but, the night didn't feel quite right. Firstly, it was unseasonably hot; it felt like a humid June evening, as opposed to the usual early April weather. Secondly, I felt drowsy, despite having gotten plenty of sleep. Thirdly, there were almost no lights on, nor were there cars driving, or people out for late-night strolls.

As you could imagine, reading in the light was difficult, and required a lot of concentration, something I couldn't do well when I wanted to have a nice lazy sleep.

Despite all that though, it all seemed fine. However, while I was getting near the dormitory, something very strange happened. After I had decided I was going the right way, and turned to look forward, it didn't look like I was in a city any more. Rather, it seemed like I was walking through the city from perhaps a millennium ago. There were no buildings, no roads, nothing, simply grass and forest for a long distance. Additionally, it seemed like it was noon.

Of course, this didn't last long, right when I thought "what in the world?", the city was back, and it was night again. I didn't like to believe I was the kind of person to doze off while walking, but it was either that or admit that I had hallucinated.

I think I'd rather be insane.

**--------------------------**

Apologies; the prologue and first two or three chapters start out unbearably slow.

Things do happen, though, and thankfully, it's short. At least trudge through to Chapter 4 if you're thinking of giving this a read in earnest.


	2. Chapter 1 092509

**Author's Notes**

The beginning is a bit slow, admittedly, but thankfully, due to short chapter size, it's not too long of a trek, or so I would hope.

I also hope that the casual first person narration doesn't get too annoying, because it's only going to get thicker from here on out.

**--------------------------**

**Chapter 1**

**The Beginning**

After my 'uneventful' walk, I had reached the dormitory. It didn't seem to be particularly new; in fact, it seemed to radiate what was best described as crusty age.

The interior fit the exterior perfectly. The walls were a drab shade of cream, with various stripes of faded green wallpaper, which was actually _peeling_ at some spots. There were lamps spaced regularly along the wall. The floor looked no better; it was a bit dusty in spots, and was essentially aged dark wood strips in some spots, and old beige Berber carpet in others.

Ahead of me, there was a long hallway with many doors, at the end of which was a large staircase. To the right of me, there was a counter made of wood similar in age and appearance to the floor. To the left of me, there was what was best described as an open lounge, with a carpeted floor. There were 2 3 seat couches, and 2 seats around a low long wooden table. The couches, were, thankfully, nowhere near as old as the rest of the building, and almost seemed out of place. In the corner of the lounge, a somewhat aged TV sat. The TV was of a decent brand, was about 30 inches or so, and was rear projection. It was on, showing a game show.

"Ah, you're here." A voice had jarred me from my moment of absorbing the lacklustre accommodations. "I was expecting you a little later in the night." He turned off the television.

A boy, a bit older than me, was sitting in one of the couches, watching television, lazily flipping through channels. He had short black hair, kept very neat, and looked fairly calm. He was wearing the school uniform, despite it being late at night.

"Anyways, you already did the paperwork before you came, right? I've already looked over everything—well, the adminstration did—and your stuff should already have been moved into your room. I've taken the liberty to place two school uniforms on your bed. Do well this year, OK?" He walked up to me, and handed me a small key. "Lose this at your peril."

I looked at him blankly, still sleepy. I took a look at the clock, which said it was only about 8 P.M. Why was I so tired?

*****

Getting up in the morning has always been difficult for me, and today was even worse. I managed to somehow get dressed, eat breakfast, and then reach the train station a few minutes before it arrived. I managed to get to school OK.

It turns out I had already filled out most of the paperwork for transferring, so it was simply took a few minutes to pop into the office and finalize everything. There was a morning assembly, probably owing to the first day of school. All in all, a pretty uneventful day.

It turned out that the kids here were fairly nice—or at least wanted to make a good impression in case I actually got popular or something. Several people—way more than I can count on two hands—came up to me throughout the day for my name, where I came from, et cetera. I don't mind the attention (after all, it really is a pain to be the new kid), but still, be damned if it wasn't annoying.

*

It's been about a week now, and I have to say it's been fairly interesting. Firstly, my homeroom teacher seems to be a hardass, and he teaches Composition. I elected to take English, and he teaches it too. The math teacher seems like he's high or something, because he talks in a misty and strange voice, and seems to be oddly absent minded ("so, we can simplify it to f=ls+h... hey, that looks like "fish" in English!") The rest I don't really remember that well; they're quite bland and uninteresting.

Now, as for the students I've met, it's a strange cast of characters.

Firstly, the guy that gave me my key in the dorm's apparently a senior, Ajibana Tadashi. From what I've heard, he's the captain of the Kendo Team, and fairly popular (though it's worth noting the Kendo Team here hasn't gotten into any position of note in the regional meet for the last 9 years.) He's generally cool to me, we've chatted a bit.

Next, a guy in my own class approached me the other day and, to simplify it, offered to be my friend, Hosoto Toshiro. He seemed like a pretty cool guy (seems a bit dumb, though), and runs sprint on the track team (worth noting that the track team also sucks.) Basically, to describe him, he has fairly messy short black hair, seems to be cheery, but seems to scowl a bit. While I want to say he doesn't try in school, I think he just can't handle the academic part of school. I don't really have much choice with my friends right now, do I?

*

I remember describing in detail a week or so ago about the strange "hallucination" I had. Today (or rather, yesterday), I think I finally got something to follow up on that.

It was a late Saturday night, and I was hitting the b—OK, who am I kidding, I was drinking a can of pop and watching movies in my room, and I had decided to hit the sack a bit late (I think like 11:30 or something.) I fell asleep surprisingly fast (the sugar didn't seem to affect me at all, creepy), and had the strangest dream.

I was standing in the middle of that field from a week ago, except, well, I actually stayed there (I also had a can of pop in my hand, weird.) Trees sprang up, and buildings as well. It seemed like a small rural village a millenia or so ago, looking like a freak blend between Japanese and European towns, reminding me a lot of RPGs like Final Fantasy. I walked around for a little bit, before discovering a blacksmith's, which I entered. However, the dream ends there, as my alarm sounded.

I'll be looking forward to trying to return to this dream.


	3. Chapter 2 092509

**Author's Notes**

Nothing to really note this chapter.

**--------------------------**

**Chapter 2**

**Baseball**

"Yeah, there's a co-ed dorm north of the school.", Toshiro was saying while we were doing the daily trek to school. "Man, the guys there are such lucky bastards. Some seriously hot chicks live there."

I shrugged lightly. "That's probably just a rumour."

"Oh come on, don't be that way! You _know_ you'd love to be there! I sure as hell would be!"

I shrugged lightly again.

"Wait a second, don't tell me you're…" Toshiro had a worried look on his face, and took a step away from me. "…gay!"

I turned to him and gave a glare. Where'd he pull that one from?

"Just joking, man. Midterms are coming up, you ready? I heard Takumura-sensei"—this was Mr. Composition—"is an ass around exam time. Math can't be that bad though, right? Or science?"

I shrugged lightly for the third time. "Dunno."

"Oh come on, you have to have an opinion!"

For the fourth time, I shrugged. Toshiro gave an exasperated sigh. "Guess you're ready for anything, huh? Can I borrow your notes?"

Normally, I'd say no, not because I didn't want to help him, but because I was one of the stupider kids where I came from. However, judging by what everyone says about Toshiro, there's a good possibility he's dumber than me.

"Whatever, but it's better to ask someone else."

Toshiro sighed. "Nobody else'll lend me 'em, not after eighth grade."

I raised an eyebrow.

"You don't wanna know."

*

Despite the fact there were about two and a half weeks before mid-terms, you could definitely feel the panic in the air. People were scrambling around trying to share and compare notes, the library was always packed, people actually stayed up in class, and oddly enough, judging by what the school vendor said, crab bread sales had spiked by 60% (though I think that's unrelated.)

I was leaving class after what could possibly have been one of the most boring lectures ever (stiff competition at this school), when I noticed a sort of poster. It read "Sport Teams now recruiting! Be at the gymnasium, yadda yadda…" This was kind of weird, if they were looking for new blood in the new school year, they were possibly a month late, but still, I wasn't about to complain, since I had nothing to do after school.

I strolled down to the gymnasium, to discover several what seemed like sign-up sheets crammed together by the gymnasium door, most of them saying "[Insert team here] now recruiting! Meet at [meeting place]!". I had a choice between baseball, Kendo, and track (I think most of the other sign-ups were taken down a month ago.) I stared for a while, before settling on baseball.

The chicks dig baseball, right?

*

After a minute or so of walking, I arrived at the baseball diamond, and asked the first kid I saw about joining. As it turns out, he was the manager of the team (or at least something close to it.) While walking to the diamond, a kid asked me where I was going, to which I replied. Apparently, the baseball team sucks. A lot.

"You're about a month late, kid.", the team manager said.

I sighed. Turns out I was just inattentive.

"Though, I don't think anybody'd mind a new waterboy.", the manager said.

Not for the first time, I sighed. "You're joking, right?"

"Yes, just kidding! Actually, there might be a spot for you; Makoto-san's been wanting to leave for a while." A black haired boy, probably same year as me waved. He was holding a bat. "God, I don't want to have to give up one of our best hitters, though."

I raised an eyebrow. From what I've heard, the North Hirokawa baseball team sucked. I was sceptical that the guy could even hit the ball at all.

"How about letting me take a few swings to see if I'm let in or not?", I asked.

The manager seemed to be trying to suppress a laugh. "Sure, you can go ahead, but there's no way you're going to hit better than Makoto-san."

*

Twenty-one minutes later, I smacked a beautiful hit and walked casually to first base, as the ball soared easily out of the diamond, and out of school property.

Makoto was cheery as he received the news he was being replaced by me. Normally, I'd feel bad, but the guy was beaming. That wasn't a good sign at all. The manager seemed to be ecstatic as well, having found someone who could actually hit.

*

Tadashi was sitting in the lounge, casually flipping through channels on television when the door opened. I stepped in, and waved. He waved back.

"Welcome back.", he said. "You integrating nicely into the school?"

I smiled. "Decently. I just joined the baseball team."

He raised an eyebrow. "I thought it was full. Did Makoto finally leave?" I nodded in response. "Well, you better be a hell of a lot better than him. It's almost embarrassing—hell it _is_ embarrassing—chatting with friends in different schools about sports."

I chuckled. "Well, I heard the Kendo team doesn't do so hot either."

Tadashi shot me an annoyed look. "Very funny, Hajime-san."

I shrugged and walked to my room.


	4. Chapter 3 092509

**Author's Notes**

This chapter and the next is the "formal" introduction to the dream world. As you will see, shadows are nowhere to be seen.

After all, it might be strange to fight a giant table on your first visit.

**--------------------------**

**Chapter 3**

**Studying**

I will be the first to admit that my academics aren't that good; I do decently, but not well enough for anyone to really envy me (except maybe the idiots, and even still, they're better off envying someone else.) My mother always insisted I wasn't diligent, and that I was much too lazy. For the most part, I agreed, except that I felt that I was diligent. I was just more diligent about other things. To be honest, going into high school, I wanted to rectify all this, but I was simply too busy before. However, thanks to being a transfer student, no such problem existed. I didn't have a part-time job after school, I didn't nearly as many friends as I used to—and the ones I do aren't anywhere near as needy, and I was only in the baseball team, which practiced three days a week.

The library however, was absolutely crammed thanks to the midterms in one and a half weeks. Walking was a pain, as kids were even standing bolt upright, reading. I found myself surprised as I found even Toshiro studying. Well, I had better get cracking, right?

Studying was never a fun affair, at least not to me. The people who liked to study were people who disturbed me. Sure, some of them said "I like to do well, not to study", but it was one in the same, right, kind of like saying "I like to not die of starvation, not to eat." Perhaps that wasn't the best example.

I cracked open one of my textbooks, and started reading. I felt my mind wander to pirates, ninjas, and a samurai on a motorcycle. No, no, I couldn't let my mind wander. It was getting desperate though, as I started to think about cooking. Anything but studying, come on!

Toshiro leaned over. "Hey, I don't get this.", he said. Welcome to my world, Toshiro, welcome to my world. He pointed to a mathematical textbook. Surprisingly enough, I knew about it. Even more surprisingly, I helped him. Anything but studying.

A few hours passed. Toshiro had left a long time ago, in frustration. He was so screwed.

A dark chestnut haired girl sitting across the table leaned over slightly. "You're that transfer student from a month ago, right?"

I looked up, and nodded. Who the hell was she?

"You look kinda familiar, actually. Have we met before?"

I shook my head. Could this be considered flirting?

"Makoto-kun was talking about you last week. He seems to think highly of you."

I raised an eyebrow. What the hell did she want from me?

"Did you take his spot or something?"

I nodded in response.

"Ah. Well, nice to meet you, anyways. Welcome to the school." She returned to her textbook again, before deciding to call it a day.

I wanted to ask her what her name was, but it was already too late when I considered it.

*

A few weeks or something ago, I had a dream about that field I saw while I was walking to the dorm. Well, I returned tonight.

I was studying late into the night, trying to get ready for the mid-terms, or at least trying to get a nice boost to my mid-terms. After calling it a night, I fell asleep at maybe 11:50 P.M., give or take half an hour in either direction.

I stood in a small town square, surrounded by houses on all sides. The town had many European style medieval homes, as well as traditional Japanese homes. The sun hung above me, unreasonably hot. This time, I decided to go to the market, which was fairly empty. Unluckily for me, I discovered I had no sort of cash on hand. Bummer.

Surprisingly, I did have a kind of a shortsword on me. It didn't look too well, as it was bent in some places, and there were even chips and breaks in the metal. Still, it was better than nothing.

About an hour or something later, I was outside of town, walking down a dirt road. Ahead of me, I saw what looked like a large ox-drawn wagon, around which a fight was occurring. Two men in fine hide armor were, for lack of a better phrase, beating the crap out of what seemed like a man with a poor shortsword, a decently armoured man with a longsword, and a decently armoured man with a katana—or maybe just a short nodachi.

My legs wouldn't move any faster than they would as I dashed to help. I had decided the side of three were being attacked by the two men in hide, judging by position, and the fact that the side of three had the "Oh god why?" look plastered on their face. I wasn't sure how I could help; I was armed with only a shortsword, against two men armed with large axes and armor. Nonetheless, I couldn't do nothing, and moreover, I had to have _some_ fun.

The side of two seemed to notice me as I ran towards them, sword in hands. One of them turned their attention to me, as his comrade could easily handle the three men. This wasn't going to be fun for me.

I never had training in swordsmanship, I'll admit, I've never really been cut out for kendo, and this is the first time that I held a sword. As a kid, I've never really fantasized about being a great warrior (kinda odd that I dream about it, then), and I don't think I fantasize about it now. Yet, I knew in a moment that I wanted to be a hero, at least here. It was some sort of incredibly odd feeling, however, I couldn't analyze further.

The man with an axe was running towards me, readying what was sure to be a deadly swing.


	5. Chapter 4 092509

**Author's Notes**

Exams, and the first fight in the dream world. Quite a week for Hajime.

One thing to note is that the characters are, at the moment, fighting without their personae awakened. But they will come.

**--------------------------**

**Chapter 4**

**Just A Bad Dream**

The man with the axe seemed a bit like a bandit (how cliched!), judging by attire and mannerisms. He seemed to be quite adept with his weapon, making attacks with ease. The axe, luckily for me, didn't have much range at all, though still a significant amount more than my sword. However, if he were using a spear or something, I can say confidently I would've been dead.

I ran quickly. An axe blade swung over my head. Lucky. I had a chance after all. My whole body lunged as I tried to stick a blade into his chest, however, I was stabbing air as he had made a small leap back. Curse you, poor range.

For a moment, I thought I saw fear in his eyes. He knew I wasn't playing.

He hadn't learned his lesson, sweeped with his axe again. By ducking a little, I dodged his attack. Seriously, I'm shorter than you; you might want to take note. I did a kind of a spring jump from my low position. The extra strength and speed would let me pierce his armor. It would be over in one attack, how perfect.

It did not work. He was ready, and evaded my lunge again. The spring proved to screw me over, as I lost my balance and fell over. I tried to scramble up, but it was too late. He held his axe over his head, winding up for a powerful vertical slash, similar to a guillotine. It was over.

I tried desperately to roll over. The fell with an extreme speed, but hit nothing but the ground. I scrambled up to my feet, managing to roll a foot or two sideways. I was up again, ready, but utterly exhausted. My enemy, on the other hand, didn't seem tired at all.

I had to finish the fight soon. I was the first to move, and did a bit of a sprint at him. To my left, I saw an axe blade flying, however, it caught nothing but air, as I stopped well out of its range. As it swung by, I began to sprint again. He wasn't ready for an attack. I felt my blade receive resistance as I stabbed, and I knew it was over. He knew it was over.

The other bandit realized in a second what had happened to his comrade, letting his guard down for a split second. However, it was long enough to get him killed, as the man wielding a katana got a perfect slash in. The second bandit fell down, bleeding from a strong slash.

I caught the grinning face of the katana-user for a second. For a moment that seemed to drag on for an eternity, we locked eyes. He looked like Tadashi.

I woke with a start, feeling utterly exhausted, short of breath and panting.

*

The room suddenly fell silent. Every head began to look down, as a scratching noise filled the air. I followed suit, and smiled. My studying had paid off. Kind of.

*

People were streaming out of the classroom.

"Man, that sucked. How could anyone possibly not hate mid-terms?"

Toshiro was turned towards me while walking, trying to chat me up. I nodded in agreement. There were so many better things I could be doing.

"When's the first baseball match, anyways?"

I thought for a moment, and remembered it was a week after mid-terms. Despite the preparations, Iwano (the team manager) insisted we continue to practise three days a week. Needless to say, I didn't feel confident going into midterms.

Toshiro turned away, walking towards his house. I kept walking.

*

I decided that I needed to blow off some steam, so I returned to the dormitory early. Evidently, Tadashi was thinking the same thing, as he was sitting in the lounge, flipping through channels, as always. He looked at me and said "Welcome back.", before turning back to watching an anime. Interestingly, it looked like something CLAMP would put out.

It was only a dream, I reminded myself. There wasn't a need for any questions. As I walked up the stairs, I glanced at the sky, where a crescent moon was hanging. I blinked a few times, and went up to my room to study a little and watch television.


	6. Chapter 5 092609

**Author's Note**

I'm going to be able to continue quick chapter updates en masse until Chapter 10—11 being the last pre-written, and my first effort in earnest to bring the chapter length up to snuff to the other fictions posted here, notably by simply combining chapters together. Then again, there is always the tiniest self-esteem boost when you read like 10 chapters in maybe 30 minutes (just a rough guess.)

Also, I was wondering, to anyone who is Japanese or knows someone who is, if you think of someone's name, would it be accompanied by honourific?

Also, I decided I'd start timestamping all the chapters, to make it easier for someone who stops reading for a bit to pick up where they left off. The format is of course, mmddyy.

**--------------------------**

**Chapter 5**

**The First Match**

I don't remember any other day where I was so glad to walk home, or in this case, into the dormitory. Weekends were normally a happy occasion, but tomorrow was made only sweeter from the mid-terms finishing.

However, tomorrow would not be so relaxing, for Iwano had called the team to practise on Sunday (the first match was Monday.) Today's practise ended fairly routinely, and I felt that the team had a chance.

*

I stepped up to plate. It was the seventh inning, and there was one out. A teammate was on second, praying I would smack a beautiful hit. I readied my bat, and took a deep breath.

The pitcher winded up, and gave a pitch that I could see he put all his effort into. They were two runs behind, and I had already proven I could make brilliant hits. They had to strike me out, or else I'd even up the score, and then some.

The ball flew at me. It was a fastball, but it was straight into my batting zone, right in the path of my natural swing path that gave me maximum power. I grinned, and let loose. The ball flew, sailing and soaring, defying gravity as it sailed over the shortstop by a long distance, and flying, flying. It didn't leave the diamond, but it was close enough. The outfielders scrambled. Bit late of them. My teammate crossed home with no problem at all. I crossed home with time to spare. The other team seemed dejected, though, but compensated by striking out our next two batters with relative ease. The seventh inning passed without much note.

I ran to my usual position fielding, left field. I watched as our pitcher (who actually was fairly decent) tossed a decent curveball. The other batter hit it, sending it flying, sailing right to me. I smiled.

I ran to the mound. It was the ninth inning, with one out. We were behind by two runs. A teammate was on second, and another on first. I made a few hand signals to ask "Mind if I try sending this one as far as I can?" They seemed to not mind at all.

The pitcher seemed to be nervous. He knew he had to pitch well to stop me from batting; I was essentially the best batter on the team. He wound up, and threw what looked like a fastball. Except it wasn't a fastball. It was a pretty slow fastball. Slow enough that I could hit it almost in my sleep. I smiled as I heard the crack of the ball against my bat. It went flying. And flying. It sailed cleanly over the head of center base. My teammates started running. However, the ball was dropping a lot faster than I would've liked. I ran to first base, but stopped, deeming it to be safer.

My caution was pointless, as the outfielder ended up catching it, and tossing it to third. Two outs. My fault. We lost the game.

*

The next day at school, I think I was mobbed, or some similar term, for being the person who almost won the team a game. Nobody seemed to mind that we didn't actually win—I guess they just got used to the baseball team sucking.

Toshiro and a few other guys congratulated me. Various girls were gaggled around me. Apparently, I was the only good athlete in the school or something. Tadashi even swung by to congratulate me.

"Congratulations, Hajime-san, you're the best person on the team for the last seven years, or so I hear."

I shrugged. Was that really an accomplishment? While I wondered, Tadashi walked away in the direction of the Student Council room. Guess he's actually busy after school.

"Great work yesterday!" A cheery voice, probably feminine said that behind me. I spun around. It was the girl from the library a week or so ago. "I guess you earned your spot from Makoto-kun."

I didn't respond. I had no idea if Makoto was good or not, though, by what people seemed to say about him, I was probably better than Makoto. I didn't say that of course; I could sense something going on between her and Makoto. No, if I were to make a move, I'd have to make a subtle one.

"I never caught your name.", I said.

Perhaps too subtle.

"Chishu Shinako. We're in the same year, right? You can call me Shinako-chan if you want." She smiled. Skipping to nicknames immediately. I guess she's a baseball fan, or perhaps attracted to athletes.

She walked off, before I could say anything more. Goddamnit, that's a bad habit of hers.

*

Everyone was huddled around a stretch of wall near the faculty office. There was a very tense air. Some kids rejoiced, and others looked like their cat just got run over by an 18-wheeler whose driver flipped them the bird. There was a large thicket, and I was at an outer edge. I was just going to have to wait.

Of course, this could mean no other thing than the exam results being posted.

Beside me, Toshiro was waiting, already looking very glum, even though he didn't see his scores yet. I guess he just _knows_ he's that bad. Tadashi was ahead in the thicket, waiting excitedly. I guess he does well. Shinako was waiting quietly, not sure what to think. I guess she was in the same boat as me.

The crowd gradually dispersed, and I got a look at my results. I scanned for my name. I smiled. I did a little bit better than average—though the keyword is "a little bit." Toshiro did poorly, though nowhere near as poor as people make him out to be. Tadashi did very well, and out of curiosity, Shinako did a bit better than me.

In short, nothing people'd mock me for this time around.

**--------------------------**

A new character! And a silly note at the end.

Not to beg, but please read and & review (though I assume you just did the former.)


	7. Chapter 6 092609

**Author's Note**

This chapter took me notably longer to write than the others, not only because of the longer length, but because it was hard to decide how Hajime'd get his Persona, and who or what it'd be.

And I assure you it's not Mara.

**--------------------------**

**Chapter 6**

**Persona**

Perhaps it was my studying before the exam that paid off, or perhaps the teachers were being more lenient, but school seemed to be much more relaxed, and homework seemed to be much less abundant. As a result, I found myself in a rare moment of relaxation, where I simply had enough spare time to pursue whatever hobbies I pleased. My choice was of course staying up late and watching television, or playing games. It was a strange habit of mine to always make sure the mini-fridge in my room was filled up decently with drinks and to keep the cabinet below the television stocked with snacks, and as a result, I was always well prepared for movie nights on a whim.

On Friday night, I decided to celebrate with one of my usual late-night in-night movie nights.

A made-for-TV film was finishing, the credits rolling. I flicked through the channels in my bed (the TV is in front of the foot of my bed), and discovered to my dismay that there was nothing left. I would be awake for another hour or two from the sugary pop. This simply wouldn't do.

I glanced over at my clock, which said it was 11:31 P.M., then at a shelf in the corner of my room, stocked with DVDs, game cases, and the odd book. It wouldn't kill me to at the very least _try_ to get some sleep tonight, I suppose.

*

I woke up, quite tired. The clock said it was 12:04.

Strangely though, what seemed like sunlight was pouring through the window. Oh crap.

I hastily donned my school uniform, grabbed a bag of chips, and darted out of my room and down the stairs. Then again, if I was already a few hours late, what was another half hour?

As I was about to open the door, I noticed something strange. Why the hell was there a sword by the sink? Regardless, I dashed down the stairs and into the lounge. I heard yelling outside—it seemed to be Tadashi's voice. There were four other voices, definitely not Tadashi's. When I opened the front doors, I realized something was definitely not right.

Let me just make a small list of what I noticed was wrong.

Firstly, it seemed like it was noon.

Secondly, Tadashi was not in his school uniform on a Saturday—more on that later.

Thirdly, there didn't seem to be much construction; the roads were more like cobblestone, and the sidewalks were just dirt, though a lot of buildings were still there.

Fourthly, there was nobody else besides the four men, Tadashi, and myself.

Fifthly, Tadashi was in that hide armor and with a katana again, like in my dream.

If it wasn't obvious before, it sure was now. I pinched myself. I wasn't about to wake up any time soon.

"Well boys, it seems like we're going to get two for the price of one today!"

One of the non-Tadashi men were yelling. All four of them were in what seemed to be studded hides, with random pieces of plated armor. One was using a halberd, two were using large axes, and one was using a claymore. One axeman noticed me—and pointed at me, and yelled the sentence before stated. Before I knew it, the man with the claymore was after me.

I was at a complete loss. This was a dream, yet I couldn't wake up. I didn't have a sword, not like before—which is when I remembered I did.

Tadashi must've thought I was a coward, as I scarpered back into the dormitory. The sword was lying by my sink, like it was before. I joined Tadashi in the fight soon after.

The man with the claymore was waiting for me at the lounge. He moved over, taking care to block the exit. I didn't have a choice, did I?

I backed away slowly, while he held his ground, thinking it was a ploy on my end. I must have gathered perhaps 100 feet or so when I started a sprint—as hard and as fast as I could, a skill honed from baseball. He, meanwhile, prepared himself to intercept me. I never even came close to his sword however, as I did something he definitely didn't expect.

With the arm of an outfielder, I hurled my blade at him, and I do literally mean _hurled_. The shortsword went airborne, slicing the air and flying at an insane speed. For a moment, he had the "what the hell" expression written all over his face. In the next moment, the hilt of my blade smashed him in the face. At the same time, I sprinted at him, and did a running tackle, bringing him down. Grabbing my sword, I delivered the finishing slash.

How did I kill him?

Outside, Tadashi wasn't doing nearly as well as me, as I soon discovered. He was managing to survive, but not much better. He constantly moved with an agility I had never expected of him, attempting to evade the attacks that were made against him. Never once did he have a window of timing to launch a counter-attack.

The halberdier alone could handle Tadashi, and thus, the two axemen turned to me. I was not going to survive this one.

The two ran towards me, bumping off each other, making it clear that they both wanted to see me dead, and they both wanted to see it happen by their hands. I didn't have a response to it, not at all. I couldn't believe my next move, not then, or now.

I ran straight towards them.

The two swung in unison, and like two blades of a scissor, the axe blades closed in on me. I desperately tried to put on more speed, and miraculously, I was not between the blades when they closed in on one another. I did a strange lunge somewhere between the throat and heart of one of them, having missed the heart. He let out a terrible scream, having had his lung punctured. However, my blade did not leave him easily, a problem indeed thanks to his comrade, who seemed to simply toss a punch at me.

The wind was knocked out of me as he managed to hit somewhere below my ribs. My vision blurred as I staggered back a few steps. He was winding up another punch, and I was about to bet it was going to be the knockout blow. I tried desperately to regain my balance—succeeding just in time to evade and prolong the fight just a while longer. My vision started to clear, revealing that my blade was too far to be able to rely on getting. That option was out. I knew I couldn't defeat the axeman unarmed. That option was out too. Was I stuck in a no-win situation?

I felt another blow strike me, this time in the ribs, sending me staggering back, but only slightly. As quickly as I could, I stepped to the side, to evade another attempt at the knockout blow. A gust of wind blew by me. The speed of the fist was incredible, whizzing by me in a split second. The body followed through perfectly—and that was my chance.

Overextended from his follow-through, I had to seize the moment. My arm winded back almost out of instinct, but this time, I wasn't going for a punch. I took a step as my arm swung—from behind, over my shoulder, straightening, then finally to his neck. He soon folded as the strength of my karate chop on the back of his neck knocked him out cold.

I retrieved my blade, and flicked it, trying to get some of the blood off. I had to admit, Tadashi was skilled at evasion, having been able to occupy the halberdier. His backsteps were light leaps, his feet hardly leaving the ground, though it still carried him quite far—far enough to evade the halberdier's swipes quite cleanly.

The halberdier seemed was readying a powerful horizontal sweep, seemingly oblivious to my presence. I tried to close the distance as quickly as possible, and end it equally fast with a lunge and a stab.

I never got to.

The halberdier did his sweep at Tadashi, who easily evaded it, however, did not stop, but rather spun around, and continued his sweep—right at me. I couldn't stop, for my sprint was simply too fast. The blade dug into me, though only in the back; my speed had been enough that I wouldn't be hit by the whole blade. The wood of the shaft pushed me, and I flew a short distance, and toppled.

Tadashi finally had the chance. He let loose a near perfect sweep of his blade, cutting cleanly through him.

But no blood spilled.

The skin around the cut flew open, like a balloon being popped, seemingly driven by some force from inside him radiating out. Without warning, he seemed to quite literally _explode_, his body popping like a balloon, pieces of armor expelled by the sheer force, and his halberd going flying from the force of his sweep.

What emerged was something I could only describe as a nightmare.

It seemed to be black, as dark as darkness, in the shape of a tall and strong man, hunched over ever so slightly. It dripped a strange black substance, with the consistency of tapioca and the appearance of crude oil—hell, it was _made_ of it. There were no real features of it, simply darkness—except two red eyes placed on what would be its face—rather cliché, actually.

This was no laughing matter, however.

The spectre ran towards Tadashi with a lightness on its step and the speed of a motorcycle, and delivered a sweeping backhand to his chest. Tadashi flew several feet, and fell like a sack of potatoes. It stopped, and walked slowly towards Tadashi, whose eyes were fearful, realizing that his time had come—and judging by his expression, much too early for his liking.

There was fear in my heart as well, however, I had to do something, or else I would be next. I dashed with my sword, and closed the distance rather quickly. I did a sweep across its body, from hip to shoulder, slicing easily and cleanly through, except that the monster _reformed_ as I slashed. You couldn't even tell that I had attacked at all.

The spectre spun around instantly to face me. I felt a massive force—what could be described as a 18-wheeler crashing into you at full speed—hit my chest, the very same backhand that it used on Tadashi. I felt myself fly several feet—no, several yards, and crumbled. The pain in my chest was excruciating. My vision blurred as the spectre ran towards me, ready to deliver the coup de grace. I couldn't muster up the might to even lift a finger. It was over. There's nothing you can do now but hope it's not painful, Hajime. Game over. My eyes shut firmly.

I felt my neck being clenched, and being hoisted upwards, carrying my body with it. My feet left the ground easily. My eyes snapped open, to see the spectre lifting me with its left hand, and readying the final blow with its right.

This was a strange feeling, unlike any other. I had the strangest feeling of satisfaction, and gave a small grin. My lips began to whisper.

"**Per..."**

The spectre was finished winding up.

"**so..."**

Its fist was flying at me.

"**na."**

The spectre was blown back, its fist never reaching me. A blue light filled my eyes, as I fell back, landing on my knees. I felt a pain in my forehead, a stabbing pain like a sword being dug into it, and being forced further and further. I clenched my forehead, and faced the sky, and simply screamed in pain. And in an instant, it was gone.

A voice boomed from in front—no, _inside_ of me.

"I am thou, and thou art I... I art Hotherus—reflection of thine soul. Now is the time for your eyes to open—and to behold the world—everything—and nothing."

Above me, I saw white sparkles swirling in a violent tornado, at the center of which stood what seemed like a man. He seemed as strong as Hercules, and carried a quiver on his back, holding one green arrow. He dressed in brown rags, dirty and flayed. Broken and unremarkable rusted chains hung from his wrists. By his short, yet wild white hair, there was a perfectly white blindfold over his eyes, with red staining it in some spots.

Instantly, I felt a second wind. Hotherus disappeared, yet I still felt his presence—inside of myself, giving me strength. I ran at the spectre, still staggering, and my mind simply went blank—nothing existed in my mind except the destruction of the spectre. In the distance, Tadashi stared in awe. I slashed again, however, the spectre's body simply refused to reform. The oily substance that made up the shadow split in two, however, both halves seemed to be still alive, the upper half crawling, and the bottom half ran at me.

I screwed closed my eyes, then opened them again in an instant. From my forehead, Hotherus emerged. He held his bow, and simply extended his arm almost lazily. The two halves of the spectre burst, exploding and expelling the ichor that made it up. I felt a massive gust of wind from the epicentre of the explosion of sorts. Hotherus was gone once again.

Exhaustion set in. I fell to my knees and collapsed, my eyes closing, and my vision fading to black quickly. In the distance, perhaps miles away, I heard Tadashi's voice, alarmed and yelling. Yet, I was too tired, and my mouth would not move. As quickly as one would snap their fingers, I fell unconscious, oblivious to the world around me.

**--------------------------**

The little summoning speech took me a while to write, and got a few revisions. Hopefully, it didn't end up too poorly.

Also, meet your first shadow, a spectre. The cliched enemies only start to pile up (though it did seem like the best enemy at the time.)


	8. Chapter 7 092709

**Author's Notes**

Energized, the Western feel of the dream world was intended to create a heavy contrast. Then again, it may not have been the best method, in retrospect.

After Hajime's awakening, he decided to take a mega-nap. So let's wash away the small trace of action with the start of social links. Oh boy.

**--------------------------**

**Chapter 7**

**THOU ART I**

I don't know how long it took me to wake up. Apparently, I was placed in the school hospital (I have no clue how they managed to justify doing that, but that's not my problem.)

When I first woke up, Toshiro was leaving, having apparently visited.

"Toshiro-kun, wait." I called in a fairly raspy voice.

Toshiro turned, apparently surprised I woke up.

"What's up?"

"How long've I been out?"

He seemed to think for a second, as if he was trying to count.

"Like a week and a half or something?"

I hadn't expected to be out of commission for so long.

"Anyways, Ajibana-sempai's also been visiting. He's been telling me to give you your homework when you awaken."

I groaned. Give me a break, Tadashi.

"Oh right, I should tell him you woke up."

*

"Tadashi-sempai, I have to talk to you after school."

I bumped into him in the corridors while he was on the way to the Kendo club. I don't usually use the honourific -sempai on him, but I think I would've been lynched at school if I didn't.

*

There was a tense air in the lounge that evening.

"Firstly, what the hell happened a week or whatever ago?"

Tadashi sighed. "It's a long story."

"Try me."

We locked eyes and simply stared for a moment.

"Well, alright, I actually don't have a good idea on the situation myself, but I'll try to explain as best I can. Basically, from what I've gathered, certain people are able to 'enter' a dream-world or something similar. I remember seeing you, actually."

I nodded.

"From what I've gathered, every few weeks, we enter some sort of advanced dream-state, like we did a week or something ago. I think it's some sort of super-dream, as it _did _feel more realistic, and as you found out, it can have repercussions into real life."

I nodded. "Go on."

"Of course, only some can enter the dream world. In that dream-state, everyone who can't is sleeping; unwakable. I explored a few months ago. I think that whatever we do to them in the dream will happen in real life on those special days. Of course, that's a hypothesis, as I haven't actually tried, well, making a visible mark on them."

"What about Hotherus—what I used to kill that black spectre thing—and about the spectre itself, why did that guy burst into it?"

"Hotherus is your Persona—or at least I think it is. Many of us who can enter the dream world has a Persona—a sort of second self, a bit of our personality in a physical form. This bit of our mind, it has awesome powers. Of course, we can't use it in waking life, but, in that dream world, it seems to work just fine. That spectre, I'm not sure myself. I've seen them before, and the locals in the dream world seem to call them shadows, and supposedly they prey on people in the dream world. I've never fought one before that night, and I've never dared investigate. That's all I know."

"Anyone else we know with a persona?"

Tadashi shrugged. He flicked on the television, clearly not wanting to talk any more.

*****

Nobody seemed to mention my "sickness" at school. The official word was exhaustion, and everyone simply put me down as a victim of overstudying for exams. Of course, I wasn't actually popular enough to merit rumours about me, which is all the better.

Class ended on a boring note, with an incredibly yawn-inducing English lecture. I was one of the few who stayed awake; Takamura-sensei seemed to not even bother to wake up the nappers any more.

There wasn't baseball practise today, so I headed home. While I descended the stairs, I saw Shinako, presumably walking home.

There aren't many things in this world that can make me nervous, let me tell you.

These were one of those things that did.

I sucked up air in my chest, and took a deep breath. It was now or never.

I walked to Shinako.

"Hey, uh, Shinako-chan, I was wondering.."

She turned to me. "Wondering what?"

"Can I walk you home?"

She stared at me strangely, as if thinking "That's a really weird question." It must've been an eternity.

"Sure, why not? I've gotta take a few stops on the way, I hope you don't mind."

Score! "No problem at all."

I could hear sobbing behind us, coming from who looked like a sophomore.

*

It turns out Shinako's "few stops" was doing some every day shopping. At least it wasn't clothes shopping or something.

We walked into the pharmacy, supposedly because her sister had a cough. Our last stop.

"So, Hajime-kun, which should I get…"

I blinked. Would I really know what cough syrup to get?

"Hmm... you're not really helping."

I pointed to the one I kept above my sink. Obligation choice ahoy!

"Hrrm, is that really a good choice..?"

"No offense, but is it that important? I'd imagine their formulas are similar."

She gave me a cold look. "I can understand if you don't care about my sister, but…" She trailed off mid-sentence. "I forgot where I was going with that."

Shinako decided to buy the cough syrup I kept over my sink.

"C'mon, let's go."

I heard the sound of glass breaking. Time stopped. This was so not good.

I saw a giant card in front of me. It turned, revealing some wacky drawing.

"THOU ART I…"

Am I getting a new persona?

"AND I AM THOU."

Seems like it.

"THOU SHALT HAVE OUR BLESSING OF THE FORTUNE ARCANA."

Wait, what?

Time started again.

"You alright?"

I blinked. "What do you mean?"

Shinako shook her head. "Nevermind. Let's go."

*

The day after the next (baseball practise), I met up with Shinako and asked if she was doing anything.

"Nah, studying."

"Mid-terms were a few weeks ago, Shinako-chan."

"But the summer exams are not."

Someone proactive. Oh, how envious I am.

Instead, I went to Toshiro. He was never busy.

Evidently, my life's getting a lot more surprising, since he had already left, leaving me to curse under my breath. Maybe I should find a job.

Instead, this kid I never knew approached me. He seemed cool enough; he had a confident yet casual look on his face, and wore his semi-long hair in a short ponytail. He seemed cheerful, as if he had just discovered a vault of gold underneath his house, or judging by the confidence he radiated, that the vault was full of supermodels.

"Name's Oohara Shichiro. You're Sakamoto, right?"

I raised my eyebrow. Seventh son?

"Yeah, who's asking?"

"I've been wanting to talk to you for a bit, man. Word's out you've been here for two months, and you've already got yourself waist-deep in cool guys."

"And?"

"Wanna grab a bite to eat or something? You gotta make good friends to get ahead."

I shrugged, and accepted.

*

I didn't know the city that well, and as a result, I never got to enjoy any really good food. Shichiro, however, has apparently lived here all his life.

We were both slurping noodles. By god, this was delicious.

"So, how're you finding school?"

"Not bad. How've you been, anyways? You look quite happy."

"Man, I'm _always_ happy!"

"Yeah, yeah, save the keet crap for later."

"Well yeah, I just got myself a new girlfriend." He was bragging, and judging by his tone, he wasn't very experienced at it. "Yeah, Ueyama Hikari, eleventh grade."

Despite having transferred here recently, I had heard rumours about her, that seemed to place her in the "nearly impossible to date" category. "Congratulations. So, if you don't mind me asking, why're you hanging around me instead of her?"

"She was busy today. You're getting to be a bit of a popular topic around the school these days, my man!"

This guy's way of talking was pissing me off. "Is that so?"

"Yeah, most recent one's been that you've gone out with Chishu-chan."

I heard glass breaking. Time stopped again. Oh no.

"THOU ART I, AND I AM THOU. THOU SHALT HAVE OUR BLESSING OF THE MAGICIAN ARCANA."

The Magician? Am I going to have to bail this kid out of something when he messes up?

Time started again.

"Well, it's getting late, see ya. I've gotta pick out a nice shirt for tomorrow."

"Big date?"

"You read my mind, dude!"

We each paid for our own bowls, and left the store.

I had better stay on the lookout for people that make the voices in my head happy.

**--------------------------**

Two new social links, Magician and Fortune.

As a piece of useless information you might not care about, Shinako was originally Priestess, before I decided Fortune was a much better fit. Shichiro was originally Lovers, before I gave him a rewrite.


	9. Chapter 8 092709

**Author's Note**

We're starting to hit the end of the pre-written material. The daily updates should end either today or Tuesday.

A chapter devoted to exploration of the dream world (or at least the start of one.)

Also the first actual appearance of a teacher.

**--------------------------**

**Chapter 8**

**The Dream Team**

When I was walking down the stairs to school that morning, I was in for a bit of a surprise.

"Hey, Hajime-san, can I talk to you when you get back in the evening?"

In case you couldn't figure it out, Tadashi was talking to me. In response, I shrugged and said "Sure."

*

The afternoon was one of the stranger ones. Last period, we had mathematics, which always was either boring or entertaining. Today was the latter.

Amarisugi-sensei (our math teacher) walked in, with a box of chalk.

"Today, we're going to do some geometry." He started scribbling various shapes. "We'll go back to basics, let's calculate the area of some shapes… I have confidence in all of you to do elementary school level mathematics.."

Let me just point out that the chalkboard has a grid, and he drew a one by one square.

"So, who wants to try this one...?"

Toshiro's hand shot up, since he could actually answer this one.

"Ah, Hosoto-san, go ahead and try."

"One square unit, sensei."

Amarisugi-sensei then added a few lines, turning into a 1x1x1 cube.

"And calculate the volume."

"Err.. one cubic unit still."

Beside the cube, a triangular prism was drawn, a right angled one that could fit in a 1x1x1.

"That's a half unit, right?"

He then erased the two shapes, and quickly drew a very surprisingly accurate and detailed rendering of the exterior of the United States Capitol Building.

"Now please calculate the area of this one, Hosoto."

Hosoto looked in shock. "Uhh, what? How do I do that?"

"They're just rectangular prisms, correct? Maybe triangular prisms for the stairs, to save some time."

"Erm…"

Amarisugi-sensei suddenly had the 'Oh, I'm an idiot' look.

"Oh… my bad, Hosoto-san." He then erased a few columns, and the indentations from the windows. "Sorry, my fault."

Hosoto still stared blankly.

"Surely this can't be _that_ hard, right?" He turned around to look at his rendering again. "Oh, silly me. I never taught you how to calculate the volume of that rotunda."

He then started a lecture.

On a silly note, after the lecture, we managed to get him to try to calculate the area of the simplified Capitol building.

"OK, this _was_ that hard. Sorry, Hosoto-san."

*

As with every Friday, I headed off to baseball practise. Over the course of a month, all the players progressed from failures at the sport to absolute mavericks.

Oh, how I wish I could say that.

To be honest, it was kind of pitiful. I was never good at baseball, and yet I was the best in the team—and people even make me out to be the best batter the school's seen in years. It was kind of like being the copper coin amongst a bag of stones.

I could tell everybody on the team _wanted_ to win, it was just that they absolutely failed at baseball. Then again, I'd have trouble finding athletes who _didn't_ want to win. The team manager decided to, in the end, hold practise during August to make sure we stay 'good.' How completely unfair.

*

After practise, I quickly returned to the dormitory.

"So, what'd you call me for?"

"I wanted to talk to you about exploring that dream world at night."

He paused for a second, letting me comment. When I didn't, he continued.

"Basically, I'm thinking we should explore together, since we'll have a better chance against anything there. Of course, we're going to have to go at night, so it won't really cut into your evenings or afternoons."

"Wait, Tadashi-san, are you implying we can control when we dream of that place?"

"From what I've gathered from exploring there, if we go to bed with the intention, and fall asleep at midnight, we'll enter that dream world. It seems to me that if we have the intention when our head hits the pillow, we'll fall asleep at the right time."

That's kind of stupid, but I'll take it.

"So, when do you suggest we start, Tadashi-san?"

He paused for a moment to think. "I'd say tonight."

A bit sudden, and a bit surprising, however, I couldn't say that I didn't want to try using my persona again.

"That's fine by me."

*

I gulped down a glass of warm milk (note that I never do this normally, but I wanted to fall asleep faster tonight), and rested my head on the pillow, trying to imagine those plains again.

The sensation of sleep blanketed me. I could feel my arms and legs going numb, and my mind's eye was wiped blank. Suddenly, I was standing upright, with a shortsword in my right hand.

Except I was pretty sure I wasn't in the plains any more.

It's hard to really explain where I was, so I'll simply describe it as void. I was literally floating in a translucent green sphere in the middle of nowhere. Really.

In the centre of the sphere was what could best be described as myself, except tinted a pale blue. I—he looked directly at me.

"Welcome. You're not sure where you are, are you?"

This was going to be really creepy.

"Indeed it is."

What, he can read my mind?

"To put it simply, yes. I have called you here tonight for reasons you will not understand for a while. Your world and my world are inextricably linked—one cannot exist without another. And yet, somehow, we're at the centre of it all.

"Regardless, you now hold the key to finding your own place in all this. Persona, you call it. Your ability, while not unique, is rather rare. To be able to come here alone is quite a feat.

"Let me emphasize that your world and mine are not totally disconnected. Even if your friends cannot follow you here, I wish to impose upon you the idea that they are not useless here. Please remember that."

This was becoming sillier by the minute. "What do you mean?"

"Persona is the manifestation of mind. Ties between minds are strong things indeed—quite tenacious, and impossible to break. What is to say that oh... a tie could drag something along?"

"Stop speaking so cryptically, and just tell me what you wanted to tell me."

"Ah, but where is the fun in that? As you travel along, my true purpose will be revealed to you. I can only hope that it will be mutually beneficial."

With that, everything started to blur to black.

*

Tadashi was waiting for me at the edge of town. He pointed to some direction out of town—which I, for some reason, thought was west. There were mountains.

"You wanna go hiking?"

"No, on top of the mountain."

I looked again. There was some sort of a small black outline at one of the lower peaks, almost like a small manor. There was some sort of smoke rising from it. I had an immediate feeling of "that just ain't right."

Tadashi started a light jog down the path, and I followed.

Let me just say that the travel to the base of the mountain went incredibly uneventfully.

*

We were standing at the base of the mountain, looking up. It was a ridiculously steep climb. The peak looked much higher than it did before. Though there was a bit of a path that went up, it both looked unsafe, and more tiring than just climbing. Of course, Tadashi, actually wearing armor, probably couldn't climb, and I never went rock climbing in my life, so climbing probably was out anyways. Who the hell would build something up there!?

After ages climbing up along a winding path (we must've been about a hundred feet up), the path narrowed significantly, from perhaps 60 feet to somewhere less than 25. On the other hand, someone had installed a small wooden handrail, which admittedly looked like it couldn't support a mouse, but was a nice touch.

"Hajime-san, I have to say, this climb was a lot more boring than I expected."

No words could describe what I thought of that comment.

The manor or whatever it was starting to come into clearer view. Thankfully, it was not perched on the highest mountain, or even near the peak. There wasn't smoke rising from it like there was before. Rather, it seemed to project a shadow—and I'm using a metaphor here—that kind of blanketed the area around it, almost as if it were wrapped in a giant translucent black balloon.

That's a terrible way of explaining it, isn't it?

*

The path was starting to flatten, and widen. No longer was there sheer cliff face next to us on both sides, but rather only about eighty degrees of slope, which isn't nearly as small of a comfort as you'd think. A few hardy trees hanged over the upper cliff, in a manner that would bamboozle even the most unstable botanists. The sun was directly in front of us, but thankfully tucked behind a cloud which I praised for existing, and had been for the last hour or so.

All in all, it was a pretty leisurely walk.

Then an arrow volleyed over my head, probably launched from above us.

"Whoa, what the hell!?" Tadashi was, obviously, alarmed. An arrow had landed by his foot. Above us, there were perhaps three or so people, archers obviously, trying to lay down a hail of arrows. Of course, they had the advantage in height (they were perhaps 50 ft. above us), but thankfully, their aim was so awful I wouldn't doubt they'd be able to miss the ground.

Me and Tadashi sprinted ahead on the path. Neither of us could climb—nor would we try. I cursed as the plateau the archers were on would not be reached for a while, if at all. The path curved around a rock face, and tightened as it rose up at a near fourty degree angle. Arrows still whizzed overhead, some flying well past us, while some I could feel the wind breaking on the back of my neck.

"Aggh!"

I turned to Tadashi, who now had an arrow jutting out the back of his right leg. "Those bastards!"

The path was turning around another rock face—if this didn't connect, we had no chance.

I held my breath as I ran behind the almost-limping form of Tadashi. Defiantly, the path chose to widen, but go _downhill_.

The archers were trailing us, though they too were on a path. We couldn't do anything.

No—wait, _I _could do something.

Hotherus's visage flashed before my eyes as I came to the sudden realization that he existed. This would've been so convenient a few minutes ago.

I closed my eyes for a second.

"Hotherus!"

As my eyes re-opened, he had appeared yet again, bursting from above my eyes. He lazily pointed with his left hand at our assailants. It was not accurate at all, but it did the job.

A ball of green air, perhaps the size of a balance ball appeared. As if there were a vacuum in the center, it all quickly was sucked into the center, then burst out with incredible force. Two of the archers were tossed like a ragdoll to the sides, and one was blown cleanly off the face of the mountain. The force itself dislodged part of the path, causing rocks to tumble downwards—straight at me.

Once again, I ran for sweet life. I doubted those archers were working alone—and I doubted even more that the two that had survived would be even knocked out.

I felt something along my back. Oh no, not now!

The world suddenly fell dark-as dark as a midnight sky. I awoke, in a bit of a sweat, feeling like hell, sore all over.

Evidently, that manor was just going to have to wait.

**--------------------------**

More bandits!

The introduction of the obligatory weird place with person who talks cryptically (the Velvet Room didn't seem to fit as well here, that and I could never write Igor's dialogue.)

Three guesses for what's at the top of the manor.

Find out next time on...

**Chapter 9 - The Manor on the Mountain**

**And as with before, please do review. Not to beg or anything.**


	10. Chapter 9 092809

**Author's Notes**

Well, here we are, at Chapter 9, and the manor will be revealed.

Though uh, I'm not sure if I mentioned it was a manor before, so that could've been a spoiler.

That being said, this chapter contains the first experiment with perspective shifting. I'm planning to make Lucidity, by the end, a collection of journals and diaries from various characters, for some nice perspective.

Also gives me an excuse to write in strange ways if we shift to a wacko.

**--------------------------**

**Chapter 9**

**The Manor on the Mountain**

I talked to Tadashi early in the morning about returning to the dream world tonight. He naturally, agreed, from curiousity, despite the fact his arrow wound seemed to giving him a noticable limp—which despite his best efforts to cover, showed up quite easily, even in waking life.

Baseball practise was cancelled today, from a morning rain that left the diamond and grass surrounding it soggy and muddy. Oh, sweet freedom.

"Hey, man, wanna do something?"

I turned around. Toshiro was talking to me. "Wanna go to the arcade? I heard they got a few new machines in—that new game 'Burn The Zombies.'"

That is so low brow. So Toshiro. "Nah, I'll pass."

"But—hey, don't be that way!" I was walking out of the room, into the hallway.

"Oh, hey!" Shinako hurried down the stairs to meet me after I had just bought some delicious crab bread. "You free this afternoon?"

"Yeah."

"You wanna get something to eat?"

I found myself in a fast food restaurant. We both had ordered cheeseburgers, myself a double, and hers a triple. Curiously, her drink was larger than mine, and she had ordered a lot more fries.

Am I just a sissy?

"It's nice to be able to talk to someone again."

I raised an eyebrow. "What, were you mute for a few days or something?" No, must tone snarkiness down!

"Nah, I've been shut in the library for a bit, studying."

"Studying? Exams aren't for another month or so, lighten up."

She sighed. "When I was in middle school, my parents expected me to study every moment of the day. But, for some reason, after I wrote examinations for high schools, they just… stopped caring or something. I mean, I got in the right high school, but they just look disappointed in me every day."

"That's gotta be tough on you."

"Well, thanks. I mean, I thought at first it was because I wasn't doing as well at school as they wanted, but... I don't know any more. I'm doing pretty decently, or at least I think so. Yeah, I have free time now, and they don't push me to work quite as hard any more, but I just have to keep studying. It's kinda painful to see them so disappointed."

"You know… this could be a ploy."

"Huh?"

"They might've thought you didn't study hard enough, so they put on the 'I'm very disappointed' act, so you try to not disappoint them, and work even _harder_ than you would if they pushed you."

"Don't be stupid."

I shrugged. Shinako seemed to be opening up a bit.

I heard glass breaking, as time stopped.

"THOU ART I, AND I AM THOU. THOU SHALT HAVE OUR BLESSING OF THE FORTUNE ARCANA.."

Time started again.

"Just take it easy, nobody ever won a race by tiring themselves out in practise.", I said, hoping to comfort her.

"Nobody ever won a race by sitting at home, watching television, while scarfing down potato chips, either."

It did not work.

*

My eyes closed. I was back on the mountain, interestingly enough, in the exact state I was when I woke up, to the point of still running. The path was sloping upwards again, and turned another bend. I couldn't see the manor any more, owing to the slope of the mountainside blocking it.

I turned the bend. It was closer than ever before.

* perspective change *

I think I had this dream a thousand times before, but it was so different this time.

I'm always in a dark room, in a traditional Japanese style. I always wear a yukata, the very same I wear to Tanabata each year. There are always shadowy figures walking on the other side of the paper walls surrounding me.

So why did it feel so different?

The dark room darkened further, like night had fallen. A paper door opened. That had never happened before.

Behind me, a shadowy figure loomed, its features shrouded by the darkness. Faster than I had ever done before, I ran. The paper wall burst with almost no resistance, sending me into a hallway. There was light, muffled by many paper walls, but light nonetheless. I had one chance. I ran, and didn't look back.

The light was near blinding. I stopped my sprint. The ground simply dropped off like a massive cliff, dropping far down, the bottom hidden away from view by fog and clouds.

I couldn't do anything any more.

* perspective change *

A hair-raising scream echoed throughout the mountains—not too far away, judging by how loud it was. The once pleasant misty mountain seemed to be darkening, as the sky began to fade into a deep navy blue. The mountain's stone turned from a light sepia into a dark muddish brown, drawing attention to cracks, spread along the face of the rock—looking to threaten to crumble at any moment. This was a strange feeling.

**Fear.**

I kept running as fast as my legs would go. There was no pain or fatigue—there was only reaching the manor now. A scream had come from the mountains, and the only candidate was where I was heading. Whoever it was, I had to help.

I turned one final bend along the side of the mountain. Crap!

The manor was so close—yet so far. It too was on the "side" of the mountain, except that it seemed to be on some isolated stone—which led me to wonder how materials were even transported there. Between where I was and the ground the manor sat on was perhaps 50 feet, which simply dropped off, almost straight off the face of the mountain, plummeting far enough that the clouds covered the ground.

A large silhouette emerged from the manor, slowly. I saw another silhouette, against the edge of the cliff. It was now or never. Behind me, Tadashi was running, looking thoroughly shocked.

I couldn't jump fifty feet—at least not without help.

Then I had a brilliant idea.

I backed up, and gave myself about fifty feet of ground to get myself a running start. Tired, I began a frantic sprint uphill. The edge of the mountain was drawing nearer—maybe thirty feet, twenty feet—I was about to go off…

And I jumped.

"HOTHERUS!"

I fell as I said the words, straight off the side of the mountain, praying it would work. I looked ahead. I saw a tint of green below me.

Instantly, I knew my attack wasn't child's play. The sheer force and winds were probably enough to break several bones if I had hit something. Instead, I was flung wildly forward, and upwards, like a ragdoll being slingshotted from a ballista. I flailed wildly through the air, in an attempt to regain control—but nothing could be done.

I saw the edge of the manor's cliff, drawing near. Would I even make it?

It drew closer and closer. By miracle or by fate, I landed perfectly with enough height, tumbling wildly onto the rocky ground, feeling sore all over, and almost certain I had heard a crack.

But that didn't matter right now.

I got up as quickly as I could, and took a better view of the large and small silhouettes.

The large one seemed like the shadow that had attacked me when I first awakened to Hotherus, except even larger. It seemed to be beefier, bulkier, and stronger, walking with a swagger like a high roller and a muscle builder rolled into one. There was no doubt in my mind that it was definitely much larger (as I had just stated), and probably many times stronger than the one that had attacked me.

I turned to the smaller of the two silhouettes, about to belt out "RUN!", but the air was curiously sucked out of my lungs.

It was Shinako.

**--------------------------**

Admittedly, I hate cliffhangers, even this semi-cliffhanger I've left you on, especially owing to fanfiction's tendency to update erratically.

However, I think I can get away with this one.

**And as with before, please do review. Not to beg or anything.**


	11. Chapter 10 092909

**Author's Notes**

This isn't a pitifully short chapter, no sir. Something important does happen, though.

Chapter 11 might be updated either tomorrow or Friday/Saturday, depending on my writing progress. Daily updates begone!

On another note, I've been toying around with the idea of writing an Aigis-centric fanfic, as a retelling from her manufacturing to the end of the Answer/Episode Aegis. Any thoughts on this?

**--------------------------**

**Chapter 10**

**Awakening**

Shinako seemed to gradually be backing away from the spectre, as if in deathly fear. A few small rocks tumbled from the edge of the cliff, freefalling.

I charged the spectre, with my sword in hand. I hadn't expected to do any damage, but I hoped at least to be able to draw its attention.

Yet I wouldn't get even that.

There was some sort of aura around it. I charged, but found my feet, and whole self slowing down, to a crawl. In slow motion, I attempted a slash—except the spectre wasn't there any more. Rather, it was a foot or three further ahead, completely out of my reach. Did it move, or did I?

My thinking was cut short, as its head slowly spun to me. Like my own shadow, it was pure black, and had two piercing blood red eyes, which looked straight into mine. I felt my heart sink with fear. Almost faster than I could see, it gave a kind of a feeble wave, almost like a backhand slap to the air.

I felt a massive surge of force push me back. I felt myself hurtling through the air—before crashing into the wooden wall of the manor. Almost like a sack of gelatine, I weakly dropped to the floor, unable to move even a finger. All I could do was watch.

The spectre slowly took more steps towards Shinako, who looked bewildered and utterly afraid, looking as if she was expecting to wake up any moment.

I'm sorry.

The final few feet were being closed down upon by the shadow. Desperately, realizing she wasn't going to wake up, she threw a punch at the spectre, who simply rippled slightly, if that's the right term, like a pebble into a pond of water.

Slowly, the shadow's arm raised. I heard a low moan, like a plank of wood being slowly bent and snapped into two pieces. "Open your eyes."

Its hand was at Shinako's face. Closing, clamping onto her head like a horrible mask. Slowly, it raised, as her feet left the ground, arm beginning to extend, dangling over the cliff.

* perspective shift *

My feet left the ground, and I could no longer see. Was I about to die?

I heard my own heartbeat, growing louder as if to defy the shadow. I had never appreciated that before. There was a gentle whispering to my right ear, of what sounded to me like an angel. "Open your eyes…"

My vision blurred, and brightened again. I wasn't in the manor any more (or outside at the edge of a cliff.) I was in the middle of town, walking with Hajime-kun. I still felt the shadow's grasp, like a hydraulic clamp. It felt like my skull would burst at any second.

I heard my heartbeat again. At the next beat, I had an epiphany.

"Open your eyes… awaken…"

I felt myself about to say something, as if to give a final insult to the shadow. My eyes began to lighten.

"PERSONA!"

I flailed my right arm, and grabbed the shadow's arm, tearing it off, releasing its vicegrip, as I tumbled at the very edge of the cliff, perhaps an inch or two from tumbling down. There was a light falling down upon me, seeming to be streaming out of my forehead. It formed above me.

I heard the voice of the angel again. "Thou art I… and I am thou… Awaken, now, it is time for your eyes to behold visions that have been kept at bay for so long. Embrace what is, and what can be—for what you see is no longer what you are bound by. I am Bernadette, and those are my words."

Above me, a woman seemed to form out of the light, in a stance that seemed to emanate holy grace. She was clad in black robes, reminiscent of a nun's clothing, though there was a very slight dusty red tint to some parts, reminding me of a medieval wizard. Her eyes were pure white—they seemed to be looking straight above her. In her hands, she held scrolls and tomes.

The shadow seemed to have been repelled by Bernadette's sudden appearance, but that reprieve was soon gone, as it ran at me, as if realizing it could no longer take this lightly.

I outstretched my arm, and held my palm forward. Light seemed to emanate above me. The spectre's charge was stopped immediately, as it seemed to simply be stopped and shredded at some point in front of my palm. Its ichor splashed against some sort of invisible wall in front of me, pooling along it, then simply falling limp, before reforming again.

"Bernadette, please help me!"

Bernadette's eyes seemed to emit a pale light. In front of me, I could see many balls of light emerging from the ground around the shadow, rising and illuminating the area with a bright white light.

There was a sudden flash. The shadow simply burst into black slime, as if it were no longer held together.

Bewilderment.

"What... happened?"

**--------------------------**

Well, I'm sure a lot of you saw that one coming.

Since copy and pasting is great...

**And as with before, please do review. Not to beg or anything.**


	12. Chapter 11 093009

**Author's Notes**

Well, in case you didn't realize, maintaining speed has been my bane thus far. So, let's continue the trend.

Another slowdown chapter meant to tie some ends that were never loose.

Chapter 12 will probably be uploaded Friday or Saturday.

**--------------------------**

**Chapter 11**

**Three**

The next day at school, I found Shinako to be the all-too-common combination of peppy, cheerful and energetic, as if someone had replaced her with some genki girl overdosed on caffeine. Even she did not quite understand where the energy had come from.

More importantly, she wasn't in a comatose state for the next week or something, like I had been.

Was I just weak or something?

Suddenly, while walking up the stairs I had remembered.

Exams were in two weeks.

I darted out of the classroom right after last bell, something extremely uncharacteristic of me. While there wasn't any regulations on maximum number of people in the library, there was a sort of unspoken rule in the school that if you couldn't sit down in one minute, you were to either leave or stand bolt upright in a corner, leafing through pages of a textbook.

Since I didn't plan on standing up, I had to get there fast.

"Hey, why're you in such a hurry, Hajime-kun?"

"No time to talk, library."

Shinako decided to follow behind me in a bit of a speedwalk, quite curious. Come to think of it, her classroom's further away from the library than mine. How was she here before me?

"You know, this is why you should study early, so you don't have to tire yourself out after you procrastinate."

"Can't talk, gotta get to library."

I heard a sigh.

"Well, whatever, I guess I need to study too."

A half hour passed without any real incident. I was bored out of mind, as I always was, but somehow I was alive, and quite notably, not driven insane. I hadn't looked away from my book once!

"Hmm, I'm getting kinda hungry, actually."

I looked up at Shinako, who looked a bit bored. She looked at me with intent, having as good as offered an escape to studying.

"Don't you need to study?"

"Don't _you_?"

"Touché, where're we off to?"

Across from me, Shinako chewed furiously, as if the food on her plate was a fuel for a freight train about to run her over. After popping a roll of _kappamaki_ into her mouth, she reached to the conveyor to grab yet another plate of it.

Surprisingly, she didn't reach for another piece after she swallowed the current.

"Ah, that hits the spot better than studying ever will, right?"

I chuckled. "That is, unless you eat textbooks."

"Which isn't unheard of."

"Wait, what? Anyone in _this_ school do that, or is that just an internet rumour?"

She wolfed down another piece faster than I could even pick a piece up.

"You know, last night I had a really weird dream..."

I raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

"Yeah, it was weird... I was in this traditional manor, and there was this big black person—like a shadow, not like black black or whatever—and it was chasing me...

"And then you showed up for some reason, and some big guy in a robe popped up, and did nothing, then the shadow beat you without much trouble...

"Then it was after me, and I thought I was going to die or something, then I heard this voice, and a giant nun popped up..."

Well, I hadn't expected she'd start the conversation. I had two choices here...

I dropped my voice. "Actually, Shinako-chan, we need to talk about that."

"Wait, what?" She looked a bit surprised; my reaction was, evidently, _not_ what she had expected. "It's just a dream, Hajime-kun."

"Well, it's hard to explain, really... I'm not entirely sure where to start."

"..."

"Alright, well, bear with me if some parts come out strange, but, basically, imagine if there was a separate world you go to when you dream..."

"...and pretty much, that's it."

I finished my explanation after a minute or so of low talking.

"That's ridiculous."

"Yeah, I'm not good at explaining..."

"No, it doesn't matter how you explain it, it's just ridiculous. Unless I got something wrong, you're saying when I dream, I go to another world where my inner mind is a nun, and can destroy big walking shadows."

"...that's... the gist of it. Maybe I should've had Tadashi-senpai explain or something."

"What, you mean Ajibana-senpai? The captain of the Kendo Team? _He's_ in on this too?"

"Well, no—yes, yes and no, actually, just yes, but no in the way I think you think. I mean, he's also able to go into the dream world place, but you made it sound like you think he's conspiring in some plot against you..."

Shinako's face was somewhere between bemused and mildly amused, an expression that made me think she thought it was all a big joke.

"Just believe me...", I said in desperation.

"Hmm, let's see, I'm to believe that the inner me is a giant nun. Alright, I totally subscribe to this dream world thing."

I sighed. Snark was _my_ thing, damn you!

Her face was now one of concern. "Look, you need to get some bed rest or something, just take it easy with studying or something, because I think _your_ dreams are starting to get loopy. I can tell you're serious about this, but please, don't be. The entire thing's just ridiculous."

I had to salvage this somehow. "Alright, how about this. Tonight, go to sleep at maybe 11:45 P.M., and think about returning to that world last time. I'll see you there."

She sighed. "I know how dreaming works, Hajime-kun. Obviously, if I _think_ about it a lot before I sleep, I'll _dream_ it, right?"

"OK, how about this? In the dream, I'll say a certain word to you, or something. I won't tell you now, in case you dream I say it and I don't say it. Then, we'll meet up tomorrow, and I'll tell you what I said. That'll serve as proof, right?"

Silence.

"...well, OK. Just don't make it too common. Something strange, like... beefsteak."

*****

I fell asleep, a glass sitting on the floor, having once held hot milk. Tonight, I wasn't going to take any risks.

A few moments later, I found myself floating, a strangely familiar sensation (familiar being a relative term.) Rather than finding myself on a cliffside, possibly bleeding while sagging at the bottom of a broken wooden wall, I instead found myself in a strange transparent sphere, as I was a while ago. In the center, surely enough, I found me—or him, or someone that looked eerily like me.

"So, you're back."

I didn't have much of a choice, did I?

"It seems you have brought a friend along, one with the same talent as yours. And at the same time, you find a sleeper, and other aides to your cause.

"Perhaps now is the time that I explain my purpose."

I drifted over to him, intent on hearing perfectly.

"The power of Persona is a limitless one, growing, and expanding as easily as your mind can comprehend—at the speed of every mind entering, limitless combinations of the psyche—for it is only as limited as we are, which is to say... it isn't.

"Persona, as you would understand, is your mind. Not the mask with which you cover your face in the real world—the mask which veils your inner mind, the one you show to others—this is what lies beneath. Persona.

"Regardless, whilst one man may have one persona, to show his one face, another may have... many more. Let's say 161. 161 faces.

"I regret to say that you are _not_ one of the people with 161 faces, but rather, you have one. However, as I had said, the connections between minds is tenacious and unbreakable. I shan't dare to understand how it works.

"Your persona is as complex as you are. Others may have an influence, and over time, you may find that your mask may crumble, and that your true face may be different than what you expected."

Whoosh! Over my head.

"It is fine that you do not understand. However, know this—the minds with whom you associate will have a great impact. Over time, you may find that Hotherus may be less of who he is, gaining the minds and the influence of your friends.

"Farewell for now."

*

This time around, I found myself standing on a cliff, crumpled against a broken wooden wall.

Except, thankfully, I could move. Shinako was standing where she was before, pacing back and forth. Across the chasm I had jumped, Tadashi was nowhere to be found (after all, I had not asked him to come along tonight.)

Walking over to me, Shinako asked "Well?"

I cleared my throat, and tried to think of the most random thing I could think of.

"Hmm... bagel and butter. Beefsteak. I don't know."

"So, you're saying this is a dream? If this were a dream, then couldn't I theoretically... fly?"

Looking as if she had eaten a chili pepper, she screwed up her eyes and tried to concentrate. Needless to say, she did not suddenly rocket off into the sky.

"Well, I don't know, I told you it was a dream, but not really a dream..."

"Now, how do we get off of here?"

Which was a good question.

*

To make a long story short, we couldn't get off of the cliff face with anything short of doing the same Hotherus jump I did to get on there—which isn't a good idea to get back, seeing as it'd be an uncontrollable flight into sheer rocky cliff.

I found Shinako after classes, walking to the library.

"Hey, how are you?"

She turned to me. "Not bad."

"Bagel and butter. Beefsteak."

She looked surprised. "Well, that _is_ something, isn't it?"

"Anyways, can you come back to my dormitory later? I need to introduce you to Tadashi-san—assuming you want to further explore the dream world."

She shrugged in a way that made me proud. "Sure, why not?"

*

The atmosphere was nowhere near as tense as it was when Tadashi had explained to me about the dream world. As opposed to the dramatic air that had filled the room back then, this time there was a much more subtle and relaxed feel.

I sat with Shinako in the lounge, watching television (it was turned to a shoujo series she liked watching), while I silently leafed through a magazine left on the table by Tadashi, waiting for him.

At last, Tadashi walked in, looking in a bit of a rush. As he entered the lounge, he turned his eyes first to the television, with a look of relief, then to myself, then to Shinako, which turned his look of relief into slight confusion.

"Hajime-san, this is a male dormitory. I'm not even sure if we're allowed visitors."

"No, Tadashi-san, Shinako-chan recently awakened to her persona. Two or something days ago, remember, at the manor. In the dream world."

Tadashi's face reminded me of Toshiro after being asked a question by the teacher.

"Oh right, where you jumped over that chasm? That was her?"

"Essentially, yeah. She might be joining us. I just need you to finish all the explanation—I mean, I gave a brief one, but I don't think it was that good."

Tadashi sighed and obliged, giving me a somewhat compressed version of the one he gave to myself a while back. Shinako, as I did, did not ask many questions.

"OK, now that that's cleared up, I've been thinking... it might be hard to co-ordinate if she lives several miles away, though. Shall we make our first trip a week or something from now?"

Shinako joined into the conversation. "I personally say we either do it soon—like maybe tomorrow, or after exams are finished. Let's not interrupt studying, OK?"

Tadashi nodded in agreement. "A fair idea. Tomorrow night, then?"

I shrugged. "Sure, whatever."

"Then it's agreed."

The rest of the evening passed without much incident, none of us wanting to study at all. After reading through the various magazines Tadashi had on the coffee table (they were some of the most random subjects I've ever seen, including cooking, kendo, and colleges), I watched television along with them, with Shinako insisting on watching an English movie, so we could do some "studying." Shinako stayed until about 8:00 P.M., when she said it'd take a bit to get home.

All in all, a peaceful evening, completely unlike what happened tomorrow.

**--------------------------**

Well, Shinako seemed like she wouldn't just take an explanation. She needs beefsteak.

Beyond that, yeah, Hajime doesn't have the wild card. Sorry if you were expecting that.

Since copy and pasting is great...

**And as with before, please do review. Not to beg or anything.**


	13. Chapter 12 100209

**Author's Notes**

Well, not for the first time, another slow chapter, but thankfully, short. Two new characters are introduced.

No ETA for Chapter 13, hopefully Saturday or Sunday if everything goes well. A particularly dream chapter next time.

**--------------------------**

**Chapter 12**

**One More!**

This morning, I woke up about an hour or two before I usually do, and could not fall back asleep. I had the strangest feeling about tonight. I peered at the clock (04:12), then outside. No lights were on, and I couldn't see anybody. In the sky, a full moon hung, a plane crossing it.

In the end, I decided to do a little bit of studying, before just watching television. I even made breakfast for Tadashi.

*

I don't think it's uncommon knowledge that sleep deprived people are irritable. As a result, today was near hellish, with Takamura-sensei (this was Mr. Composition, in case you had forgotten) deciding to kick classes into overdrive for the exams. Class began with an incredibly boring lecture, spoken in a rapid fire pace—enough so that I could hardly keep up with taking notes. He then moved onto rapid fire question and answer with—get this, an alarm set to 5 seconds.

The end of a composition class has never been quite so sweet.

In the halls after school, I bumped into Shichiro again, who was walking with whom I assumed to be his girlfriend.

"Ah, hey Hajime-kun!"

Jumping to that honourific already, eh?

"This is Hikari-chan. I think I told you about her before."

Taking a look at her, I found myself in utter shock that Shichiro had "landed" her, for lack of a better term. Firstly, she didn't look Japanese in the slightest—not only did she have blonde hair and blue eyes, she was perhaps half a head taller than Shichiro, and perhaps one third taller than me—and probably almost a head taller than Shinako. Next, she had round eyes, as well as a notable accent—one I couldn't pinpoint. The accent itself was a bit unnatural; it wasn't like the one a gaijin would have (my old school having had a foreign exchange program with Canada, thus giving me a bit of experience with this), but rather one that sounded like it was intentionally induced.

Beyond that, my shock was that I actually found her to be somewhat cute. I was amazed at how Shichiro had managed this one.

Of course, I gotta stay loyal to Shinako, right?

"Uh, hi, Ueyama-sempai."

She smiled. "So you're H—Sakamoto?"

For a brief second, it sounded like she was going to call me Hajime-something.

I nodded. "I heard a lot about you."

"Really? Well, nice to meet you, I suppose. Shichiro talks a bit about you."

"Really?"

"Well no, not really."

At that exact moment, Shinako decided to walk by, and gave me a strange glare. "Shouldn't we be going somewhere, Hajime-kun?"

Before I knew it, I was being dragged (admittedly, Shinako wasn't that strong, but all the same.)

*

After a short trip to the library, Shinako decided for me that we would be eating at a Vietnamese restaurant specialized in pho. Quite frankly, I don't think I've _ever_ seen one before—though I suppose a big city does have its benefits. Moreover, I found myself wondering why we didn't get ramen instead.

"It's cheaper here. And plus, I prefer pho."

Or so she said.

After looking over the menu, I had decided I had no idea what to get, so just sprang for a bowl loaded with beef, and ordered some extra beef (admittedly, this _was_ a lot cheaper than the place I had gone to with Shichiro.)

Shinako sighed. "I'm thinking of attending cram school now. I'm... a bit worried."

"Shinako, university entrance exams aren't for another..."

I counted on my fingers.

"...three years... or is it two? Umm..."

"Yeah, well, it'll help, wouldn't it? I gotta get ahead. Get a good job. Get into a good university." While I wouldn't consider myself an expert on judging emotions, Shinako's face was perhaps the most obvious shade of sad existent.

"Really? What job are you thinking of getting? What job takes _three_ years of cram school to even have a _hope_ of getting into a university for?"

She glared at me. "I don't know. Am I going to take a chance? No." The previous sadness had melted, being replaced by moderate anger.

I heard the sound of glass breaking, as time seemed to stand still.

So I apparently hit the next level of friendship by pissing Shinako off.

A giant card appeared.

"THOU ART I, AND I AM THOU."

The card flipped upside-down.

"THE BOND THOU HAST FORGED HAS BEEN SEVERED. OUR BLESSING BE THY CURSE."

Wait, _what_? That can happen?

Time started again, as I heard the slurping of noodles.

The rest of the meal was awkward. Both of us ate as fast as we could. Every attempt I had to try and reconcile failed. The first words we exchanged after the incident before was how to split the bill—we eventually settled to go dutch.

*

I wasn't happy at all today. No, I couldn't blame anybody but myself for what happened, but I maintained then—and I still do now—that Shinako over-reacted.

And so that was what my mind was stewing with as I walked into the dormitory.

The sound on the lounge television was turned up—I could hear a commercial for wasabi peas blaring loudly, over the voices of Tadashi, and someone I couldn't recognize.

Naturally, I walked to the lounge, curious.

"So yeah, we're just waiting for Hajime-san now.", Tadashi said. "Oh, well, speak of the devil."

The other voice belonged to another kid—maybe about the same age as me—sitting on the couch next to Tadashi, watching commercials intently. He was as white as Casper, and about as Japanese as a Big Mac. Notably, he was not wearing the school uniform, but rather a red t-shirt that looked like some sort of ridiculous robot anime merchandise, along with a set of black pants, that thankfully, were plain. Next to him was a small stack of bags and suitcases.

"Um... Tadashi-san, what's going on? What's up with the gaijin?"

"Hey, I'm not a gaijin!", the white kid protested. Beyond his accent—which, admittedly, was not too heavy—he also spoke with a sentence structure and choice of words that made it sound like he was the main character of a shonen manga.

"Yeah, well, you sound and look like one, get used to being called one. Anyways, what's going on here, Tadashi-san?"

Tadashi had an amused look on his face. "Hajime-san, meet Cooper Brandon, or uh, Brandon Cooper, if we're doing western order. He moved here from America, and will be staying in this dorm for the rest of the year. He'll be a sophomore, like you. Be nice, alright?"

Brandon smiled, and got up to shake my hand. "Ajibana-sempai has been telling me much of you, Hajime-san! It is nice to meet you! You will help me around here, right?"

His Japanese, structurally, was OK, besides his speaking style. There was just something about it that annoys me—something I can't quite pinpoint. "Sure, I guess."

I heard the sound of glass breaking. Time stopped, as always.

A card appeared and turned, having a picture of what I would imagine to be a priest after Picasso was done with him.

"THOU ART I, AND I AM THOU. THOU SHALT HAVE OUR BLESSING OF THE HIEROPHANT ARCANA."

The standards for being "friends" must really be dropping.

Time started again, of course.

*

I punched numbers on my cell phone furiously, texting with speed that I've never had before. Tadashi and Shinako were both about to go to sleep, and as was I. From the looks of it, Shinako wasn't holding a grudge—or at least not showing it for now.

And so I laid my head onto my pillow, and closed my eyes, waiting.

I found solid footing as I always did, having the strange transition directly from waking life to dreaming. Never could I believe that I would get used to this feeling. The best analogy for it is if you were sleeping on your bed, then the bed disappears. You start freefalling, but your feet are on solid ground, like you were standing up. Then, the entire world rotates, as your feet are now on the bottom. All of this happens at the _same time_.

There was utter silence in this dream thusfar—something that's never happened. I opened my eyes, and looked around.

I wasn't on a mountain any more.

**--------------------------**

I tried to make it clear that Shinako reversed rather than broke. Hopefully, it worked.

This and the next chapter is where the happiness ends. For a brief while.

Since copy and pasting is great...

**And as with before, please do review. Not to beg or anything.**

**But seriously. Please do. If you enjoy the story, please do. I'm a shallow being, and that can give me motivation.**


	14. Chapter 13 100409

**Author's Notes**

A dream chapter, and an important one, maybe equally important to Hajime's awakening.

I'll just leave it at that.

No ETA for Chapter 14.

**--------------------------**

**Chapter 13**

**Blind**

Utter silence.

Complete emptiness.

Behind me was my dormitory. I was definitely standing outside of it, staring at the same mid-rise apartment that stood across the street as I did every morning, when I leave for school.

I was standing on the sidewalk, like every morning.

But I was definitely dreaming.

All the buildings were bright in the sun—but curiously, everything seemed to be whiter—as if covered by a dusting of chalk. Cars laid parked and stopped on the road, and bicycles laid on the ground, fallen onto their side. I could see papers on the ground, briefcases standing still on the ground, balanced. This was a normal day.

But it was completely empty.

There was no sound beyond the sound of my own footsteps, which reverberated and echoed from the world unnaturally, as if I was in a giant cave. As I walked further, more signs of life—or rather, the lack thereof—appeared. A leash laid on the ground, perfectly still, and outstretched to the spot on the ground below which I assumed the neck of an animal once was.

It was almost as if everyone suddenly _vapourized_.

As it turned out, the door to the dormitory was locked. As I peered in through the windows, I found that it was near pitch black inside. Nobody was inside. Tadashi wasn't going to be here to help me.

"Hajime-san, there you are."

Absolute panic gripped my heart. I spun around on the spot, looking where the voice came from—directly behind me.

And of course, there was no one there, but I don't think I had to say that.

I walked further. This was a dream, yes. However, this wasn't like any before. This deserved exploration. I walked over to a toppled bicycle—a nice one, with a little bell and small tassels on the handles, and put it upright. As my fingers touched the cool metal of the bicycle's body, and I gripped it, it simply crumbled away, as if it were a fine simulacrum, made of wet sand. This was starting to get creepy.

"Get over here, Hajime-san, what are you waiting for?"

The voice came directly in front of me. On the other side of the road, I saw Shinako, standing, and waiting for me impatiently.

I ran over. "Sorry, but where were you?"

A wind began to blow. Slowly, Shinako crumbled away, like sand held against a fan.

Again, I was alone.

I stared at the spot where Shinako had once been. Nothing remained. Nothing indicated there was anything that had even been there, anything that had ever called out to me. This was starting to become too much.

Man, that was random.

The city was empty. I knew it.

But this was becoming increasingly uneasy.

Once again, I set out to look throughout the town.

What was I even looking for?

Who was I looking for?

"Why are you still here?"

A small whisper fluttered by my ears, accompanied by a small gust of warm air.

I wheeled around.

Standing in front of me was a man I had never seen. He looked like the kind of man who would be in a movie—not the hero of an action movie, but rather the everyman who would soon find out he was anything but, in terms of attire. His hair was a pale greyish blue, of moderate length, worn ragged and wild, as if he had just been in a face-brawl against a lion. He wore a thin long-sleeve shirt, white, and absolutely plain, the stitching itself even being next to impossible to notice. His pants were simple blue jeans, but worn, and faded as a result. On his face, he wore a small white mask—a mask depicting tragedy.

"Why are you still here?"

His voice sounded warm, yet I could detect none behind it. It was almost as if he was conditioned to be a polite man—but secretly, his mind had resisted.

I caught myself surprised, shooting "What do you mean?" before I could even think about what I was asking.

"You're dreaming."

...what was he onto?

"You're dreaming. None of this is real. But, even still, you fight, like it was. You ran to save the girl, and yet, you stand idly, and let real life slip through your fingers...

"Like grains of sand.

"So, what is this dream to you? Wish fulfillment? A chance to get away?

"But no, I can tell it's none of that. I can tell that this dream is _nothing_ to you."

Stuttering. Surprise. That was true. There was nothing I could say. It was true, true, true...

"So, what is this dream for you? A plaything? A chance to get away from your horridly inadequate life? Have you ever considered you're intruding where you don't belong?"

...I had to say something.

"I don't need a reason to be here. In fact, I don't need a reason to attack you here. It's just a dream, right? I don't have to hold back, and I can just give it my all—when everyone wakes up, it wouldn't matter if you had died. You're just a dream."

I quickly got ready to summon Hotherus, but the man caught my eye again—in a way that I simply did not continue, too intrigued to do so.

"If you stay for no reason—fight for no reason..."--he reached into his shirt, pulling something out literally _through_ it--"...then why _are you still here_? You seek to dream for no reason. You do not know what you dream of, you idiot."

There was a flash of silver as he quickly raised his hand. He held a pistol—akin to the kinds in action movies. I recoiled. He first pointed it straight at me—causing me to recoil in alarm—and then slowly raised it. His arm curled around, and his hand twisted, as he began to position it beside him—over the shoulder—straight at his forehead, from a side—which is to say, a bit above his right ear.

He mocked pulling the trigger, before pulling the gun and mockingly saying "pa-schew!"

"And even still, you're horrified by this thought—you thought I would pull the trigger, and you flinched. True, when everyone wakes up, it wouldn't matter if I had died. Yet, it would matter to you—to live with the idea that you had killed someone—a person."

"HOTHERUS!"

"Loki."

It was a sight to behold. As Hotherus bounded out of my mind—another creature bounded out of his. It wore ghost-white robes, with a translucency to match—shimmering manically. From that robe grew a purple body, stylistically quite similar to Hotherus—toned, yet still, remarkably—and no matter how many times I reminded myself, the shock never quite subsided—purple. His head was gross and mishappen, or perhaps rather more misformed and twisted than anything. Ragged black and white hair ran from his head—and thinking back, they reminded me greatly of horse tails.

Hotherus raised his arm as always, and I grinned in satisfaction as the green sphere of air formed around the man—and even Loki; escape was impossible now.

At the same time, Loki simply flicked his cape, and his eyes flared dangerously. The green sphere of air—then compressing—simply dissipated, and diffused into the air harmlessly. Still surprised, I could hardly react in time to his own counter attack.

Almost without a second thought, Loki raised his arm, and pointed two fingers at us—in a V formation. From the two fingers, massive pillars of lightning sprang forth. Massive tongues of lightning sprang through the air, slicing it cleanly with a blast of thunder—and both descended on myself—each perhaps as thick as a telephone pole.

Needless to say, it was not pleasant.

As a child, I was never stupid enough to do something like sticking a screwdriver into an electrical outlet, so I have no frame of reference to compare that sensation.

At the points of entry, it felt like molten metal spears had plunged through my skin—heat beyond anything imaginable, and simply spread. I could feel nothing wrong with my skin, but the heat simply spread inside. Moreover, for what must've been a thousand times, for split seconds everything would go black, then white, as every single sensation was overloaded and overdrived before simply dying again. My muscles twitched and spasmed sporadically—what could be considered closest as complete loss of your body.

And in a split second, it was over.

For the shortest split second, Hotherus was in my mind's eye, and for a split second, I had considered ordering him to attack again—but I had seen that he was no longer existent—as my charred form on the floor would soon find out.

"Surely whatever you stay here for cannot be worth enduring this—think about it, escape is yours. Just... open your eyes."

Words rushed through my mind. What could I say back? Would _would_ I say back? That it was? That it wasn't? Was it? Wasn't it? I didn't even know any more.

Silence.

I heard a chuckle. Loki had disappeared, and if I could see the man's face, I'm sure he would've smiled. He turned around, back facing me, and began to melt away into a black ichor—the very same that my shadow had been.

There was a dreadful roar, and moan. I looked at the puddle that had once been the man—and discovered to my horror it was no longer a puddle.

The ichor burst upwards, as if expelled by the ground of the empty plaza I laid in. It rose up, in a way that could be best described as lifting your finger in the centre of a napkin. It simply expanded, and grew, as the tar-like substance seemed to gain a life of its own.

Then it burst.

What was left in its spot was a horrid creature, making me think of a melting scoop of black ice cream. From it sprouted innumerable arms, on which there were nine misshapen fingers. Many hands held masks—I could guess at most about 30 of them, while many remaining held small silver knives. It crawled along the ground with its many arms—straight at me.

I scrambled to my feet—which was extremely difficult, injuries considered. I simply ran, and sprinted as far and as fast as I could. Many times, I closed my eyes, in an attempt to summon Hotherus, but it was in vain. I found myself sprinting through the city, the roads seeming to stretch at my feet, going to an infinite distance as the shadow began to chase unnaturally fast.

I spun my head to look at the shadow. It was beginning to gain on me. It was then that I realized what its masks really were.

Staring back at me were blacken-eyed caricatures of people...

Not people, no.

People that meant something to me.

There was Shinako, there was Toshiro, Tadashi, Shichiro...

There were my friends from before I moved, Isamu, Hideki...

And there was my own face, in the middle of them, looking the most dead.

I tripped.

The shock was jolting—seeing the faces, and then falling. I looked at the shadow as it simply clawed its way to me. It seemed to slowly gain mass.

_"Why are you still here?"_

"I... don't know."

**--------------------------**

Hopefully, this is where the story gets more serious. As for whether this was a genuine dream or a trip to the dream world—well, I'll leave that ambiguous for now.

Hideki and Isamu will not appear in person, but remain in occasional namedrops.

Since copy and pasting is great...

**And as with before, please do review. Not to beg or anything.**

**But seriously. Please do. If you enjoy the story, please do. I'm a shallow being, and that can give me motivation.**


	15. Chapter 14 102109

**Author's Notes**

Well, compared to the usual update schedule, that was a ridiculously long wait.

Thank real life-itis (because real life causes inflammation, totally), then writer's block coupled with a lack of motivation.

Regardless, this is where the story begins to change a bit.

No ETA for Chapter 15.

**--------------------------**

**Chapter 14**

**No Breaks**

I awoke, bursting suddenly from my sheets, drenched in a cold curtain of sweat. I had been asleep for all of half an hour, before that dream—no, _nightmare_ had awoken me.

In the darkness, I thought.

Beads of cold sweat dripped.

Each one falling on the sheet was like the ticking of a clock.

I was here, alone, again.

*

When I got up, the morning seemed to move at a glacial pace. My head kept wandering back to the night before.

I had to forget about it.

The trek to school was made painful by an unseasonal chill that swept over the city—almost like what I should have experienced on the April night I arrived here.

Tadashi greeted me at the lounge, looking slightly worried. We decided to keep each other company on the journey.

"Tadashi-san, last night... was Shinako-chan with you?"

He seemed amused.

"Funny thing is, I was about to ask you the same thing."

I stopped.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think we were in the dream world last night... or at least, maybe not the part we were usually in. I had a somewhat normal dream, despite the fact I had gone to sleep at the right time, and that I was ready to enter. Judging by your question, I would assume that you didn't manage a trip to the dream world either?"

I nodded. "So, you have no idea what happened?"

"Well, not really, I have many hunches, but I doubt any of them are correct. Judging by your expression, I assume you're not ready to return to the dream world in a rush, so this issue should hopefully resolve itself by then."

Tadashi seemed supremely unconcerned by this.

"You seem to be oddly lax about this, Tadashi-san."

"The matters of entering and leaving the dream world are out of our hands. I see no point in trying to fix this issue, especially considering how little knowledge we have of even the most basic mechanics of it."

"But even still—"

"—we wouldn't be able to fix this ourselves. Hajime-san, even if we are to do something about it, I don't think you'd be fit to enter the dream world again for at least a week. You look like your cat just died, or something. I'm next to certain a poor mental condition will hamper both you and me, and I know that even with the little knowledge we have."

*

Looking back on that morning, I realized that Tadashi was right. If the dream world was just a dream, then logically, only my mind would move over. If my mind was clouded and in a wreck, then logically...

I don't even want to know what would happen. I'm imagining having random chunks missing from me.

And besides that, I had to set things right here.

Shinako had disappeared after last bell, being nowhere near her usual spots. Damn you, Shinako. I had to fix everything up at another time.

Instead, I found Shichiro (or more accurately, he found me.)

"Hey, dude, Hajime-kun! Been, a while, man!"

How I'd love to move at Shichiro speed—where one day is a 'long while.' I could take it easy as much as I wanted.

"So, like, I was thinking we should hang out today! Hika-chan's busy today, so I've got some time too!"

Well, I didn't have anything else to do, right?

"Hmm, sure, why not?"

*

Not for the first time, I found myself in a small ramen shop. Between the many meals of instant noodles at the dormitory, and the many trips for noodles with just about everyone, I found myself being, admittedly, somewhat tired of it.

It was still delicious though, don't get me wrong.

"So, you know, I've been hanging out with Hika-chan for a while now..."

"Why yes, I've noticed."

Shichiro frowned.

"Yeah, I guess that was kinda obvious. Why'd I say that?

"Anyways, she's got me thinking..."

He slurped some more noodles.

"I gotta think about my future sometimes too. I mean, she seems to look forward to everything, but man, I didn't even think about past high school before."

"Jeez, now you're starting to become like Shinako. It's almost like there's some kind of mental parasite latching onto everyone's brains."

I stopped.

"Actually, let's not tempt fate."

Shichiro chuckled.

"So, basically, I decided that I'll open up a hot dog stand."

"Wait, what? Back up." I said.

"Dude, you don't get it? Let me outline what opening a hot dog stand means..."

OK, now _this_ was going to be good.

"Firstly, I make a couple bucks, maybe a couple hundred if I go for it long enough. Secondly, I can use this on my resume as work experience. Just imagine how nice it'd look. Thirdly, I can use those couple hundred bucks as a nest egg for university tuition. Fourthly, I can continue the hot dog stand for more money, and maybe I do well, expand. Dude, it's win-win!"

I nodded. That wasn't a bad idea, actually.

"So, Hajime-kun, you're going to help me out, right?"

Wait, what?

"No, you're not going to be stuck grilling hot dogs or something, that's totally lame. Just heavy lifting of hotdog boxes and buns, and helping me move the stand around. I'll give you a free hotdog!"

"Well, can't say no to a free hotdog, can I?"

I heard the sound of glass breaking. Time stopped.

"THOU ART I AND I AM THOU. THOU SHALT HAVE OUR BLESSING OF THE MAGICIAN ARCANA."

Go hotdogs!

Time started again.

"I'm telling you man, it's going to be a sensation! Shi'd-dogs! Hot dogs given that Shichiro treatment! You know, like it got Shichiro'd! They'll be like "oh man, this hotdog hasn't been shi'd on!""

Oh, Shichiro, you person.

"You might want to rename them. I mean, uh, just think about it."

"Dude, I like the name Shi'd-do—oh... OH."

"Yeah."

*

Dear journal...

Today, I fixed everything up.

With you as my witness, I promise never to screw up so bad again. You hear me?

I had a pretty strange day today, to be honest.

Firstly, after school, Brandon approached me for a copy of my notes. Toshiro did at about the same time.

Let me tell you, they really hit it off.

At the end, I just passed my notes to Brandon to let them share them. He gave them back later, when we both went back to the dormitory.

Moreover, I found Shichiro today (well, technically, he found _me_), and told me he was setting up the hot dog stand today. That guy really moves fast.

"So yeah, I'm looking into importing a nice hot dog grill overseas right now. I'm borrowing Hika-chan's griddle for the moment. Went shopping last night for buns, weiners, condiments, and drinks."

"So, the school's OK with this?"

"Yeah, actually, the business club got wind of this, and are giving me a bit of support. The office was totally cool with it! I was kinda surprised, actually, I was expecting at least a week. They even gave me a little mini-fridge."

"Why would they have a mini-fridge lying around?"

"I have no idea, but I'm not complaining."

At that moment, Hikari came in with a medium sized cardboard box. I could only assume it was the griddle.

Shichiro rushed over. "Hey, let me help, I'd feel horrible if I let you carry that all the way here."

"I'm stronger than you, Shichiro. And plus, where were you for the last half hour if you felt that way?"

"OK, let's not start that again."

She unpacked a small griddle, and looked for an electrical outlet. "Hrrm, I just realized, Shichiro, if you're buying a hot dog griddle overseas, you also have to get a plug adaptor or something. Also, we need to move the desk over, the wire's maybe three inches too short."

We were setting up on a desk in the middle of the school lobby. There were loads of people going in and out of the lobby, hurrying to the library, home, or to clubs. By now, we were starting to get some curious onlookers.

Shichiro started to lazily drag the table.

"Hey, Hajime-kun, help, man!"

The desk was surprisingly light. Shichiro was now moving packs of wieners into the mini-fridge.

"Hey man, could you help me stock the drinks into the fridge?"

I really wish he would stop sticking "man" into every sentenced addressed to a man. It was almost like saying "ya know, in case you forget."

And despite all that, I still had a bad feeling about it all.

"Shichiro-san, are you sure you really thought this over?"

"Dude, I already thought it about for ages, and I already told you. This cannot be a bad idea, man!"

"I'll... just come right out and say it. I don't think this is that great of an idea. Who here eats hot dogs? Even if you're making it western style, I'm not sure if that's even a good idea. Sure, it's western style, but I'm not sure if anybody here would care if they don't think it tastes good. And even still, the school vendor sells better food for similar prices.", I said. "Also, that business club seems shifty. 'Oh, look, what a good idea, sell food. Let's make a takoyaki stand or something.'"

Shichiro looked surprised. "Ehhh, maybe I should've thought this over some more. But even still!

"It's an experience, Hajime-kun, it's like, you know, a thing where you do things, and even if it doesn't work out, you've done a thing, and that's all that matters!"

"What he means to say, Sakamoto, is that even if he doesn't do so well, the point is that he's got the experience. He's done it, and no matter the result, that can't be taken away from him. Corny, yes, but the point is, it doesn't matter.", Hikari said as she passed by. "That being said, I do have a good feeling about this. I'm sure people would like hot dogs."

I stood there, and thought for a little.

You know, they were right. No matter how much I screwed up, as long as I was still alive, I'd be able to fix it.

You know, unless I _really_ screwed up, in which case that'd be the least of my concerns. Regardless!

I ran off, knowing what I had to do.

"Hey, man, don't you want a hot dog!? Get back here and help!"

Not for the first time, I couldn't find Shinako anywhere.

Then I suddenly realized I had baseball practise today. Hoo-rah.

Practise was nearly over by the time I had reached the diamond.

"You're late, Sakamoto. Really late."

Iwano (the team manager, if case you forgot) was there to greet me.

"We were finishing up anyways, I trained a few guys to act as pinch-hitters in case you're a no-show."

I peered at my watch. They did that in less than an hour?

"Well, anyways, enjoy your evening, I'm also calling off all practise for this week. Everyone's been absolutely exhausted, and exams are coming up. Just focus on academics, OK?"

This was unbelievably uncharacteristic of Iwano. We had to practise even _during_ mid-terms before, but now we get to skip for two weeks?

"OK, Iwano-san, we had to practise during mid-terms last time, why on earth are you calling it off now?"

He seemed a bit surprised, and a bit annoyed by my question. "That's none of your business, OK?"

I waited.

No? No glass breaking? I kind of expected that by now.

I found Shinako sitting at the benches in the diamond, chatting up someone (not a teammate, as he wasn't wearing a jersey or something similar), probably having watched practise.

Hell no, I'm not going to get ninjaed.

I ran over, and greeted her and whoever her friend was.

Her friend turned out to be a former member of the baseball team—the guy I had replaced, actually.

"Oh, hey, Sakamoto, how's the team doing these days? You still been hitting OK?"

"I'm just fine. The team's kind of... err..."

"So I assume they're no better than when I was there?"

I nodded, and looked away, pretending to be interested in watching the team pack up.

"Well, uh, I should be going. See you two."

Makoto walked off.

Awkwardness.

"So, uh..."

...

"Yeah?"

I had to do it soon.

"Shinako-chan, I'm sorry about uh... a few days ago."

"OK. Let's just put that whole thing behind us, alright?"

"Alright, great! Now, let's find Tadashi-san."

"What for?"

"I want to return to the dream world tonight.

"I have some business to take care of."

**--------------------------**

Shi'd Dogs – possibly overstepping the limits of T?

Since copy and pasting is great...

**And as with before, please do review. Not to beg or anything.**

**But seriously. Please do. If you enjoy the story, please do. I'm a shallow being, and that can give me motivation.**

**And if you didn't enjoy the story, well, then I urge you to inform me.**


End file.
